It's been awhile huh? Let's catch up...now that I have some free time. After the awkwardness of Tuesday I was glad I would be in class the majority of the day Wednesday so I wouldn't have to see Clemence and make an even bigger fool of myself. Let me just say that Wednesdays and Thursdays are going to suck so I most likely will be complainging about them for the rest of the semester. Alright, Wednesday....
I had class at 10:30am at the Foyer where I stayed the first week I was in Paris. The closest metro stop to the foyer is really far away, so I take the RER B. There is a stop (Luxembourg) that is seriously 20 steps from the Foyer which is awesome. Hopefully the RER people are never on strike (like that will never happen) because it would really suck to have to walk from the metro. It usually takes me around 25-30 minutes (depending on the day and time) to get to the Foyer. I got there a little bit early just to be safe. A bunch of kids were sitting in this little nook that's in the foyer near the classroom so I decided to join them and wait for class to start. The majority of the people who were sitting there are the group of kids that arrived a week ago from back home. They were talking about all the stuff they have been doing and all the stuff they want to do and talking/complaining about their living situations. Jordan (the guy who came with us to Paris) and I just looked and each other and gave the 'been there, done that' face. We went into class and the room is incredibly small and very hot and stuff...I can't wait until late May when it starts to get warm, that should be fun. The theatre class is taught by Benoit Resillot. He's a really cool French guy and is an actor. All of the plays that we will be reading, he has performed in. It will be cool to get an actor's point of view of the plays. He seems really nice. He seemed to talk to the the first group of IPP students (my group) more than the second group because we are obviously cooler...haha. Seriously. He said my name and for the second time that week the professor has commented on how they love my last name because it's French. That never happened once first semester. We basically went over vocab and what we were going to be doing in class this semester. I think I'm really going to enjoy it. Class ended at 12pm and I walked over to school so I coud eat lunch.
It rained that morning so I held onto my umbrella because it was wet (this may seem really stupid for me to be writing about but it will come into play later...) I enjoyed my lunch, couscous that I made yesterday, in the court yard of school. I set my umbrella on the bench. Amira (who's in my theatre class) joined me and we ended up going inside to talk because it was cold. I made sure to bring my umbrella with me. We talked for a while and then went up to the classroom to wait for the professor to open the door. Katie joined us while we were waiting, we talked about going to the movies that night. Once we got inside the classroom and the professor closed the door, I realized that I didn't have my umbrella with me. I looked in my bag, on the floor, everywhere and it wasn't there. Great. My afternoon class is a translation class. I'm assuming we will be translating from English to French and possibly from French to English. I thought it was going to be a lot of fun, but the professor seems really strick and not very fun at all. Plus, it's going to be a lot of work. On a positive note, both Amira and Katie are in class with me, as well as this GORGEOUS guy. OMG he's super cute. I think he goes to Temple University but I don't remember his name. I just remember his adorable face and awesome scruffy beard. The class may suck, but at least Katie, Amira and I have someone pretty to look at. During break I looked for my umbrella but it was gone :( We ended up getting a lot of homework for next week. We are supposed to translate this article and I've never done anything like that before so I'm basically just winging it.
After class Katie and I went over to the student cafeteria to eat dinner because we had planned on seeing Shutter Island at 7. Just our luck, the cafeteria doesn't open until 6:15 and it was only 5:30 ish. We decided to go find a Monoprix so we could go buy some candy like we usually do when we got to the movies. We couldn't find a Monop' so we had to settle with Ed (another grocery store). They didn't have much so we left and continued walking in the rain to find a Monop'...good thing I lost my umbrella a few hours before! We never found one so we walked back to Ed and just bought some candy that looked good. We had to rush through dinner because it was going to take us at least 20-25 min. to get to the theatre. After we were done eating we seriously ran out of the cafeteria, and ran to the RER. Of course we had to transfer at Chatlet so we ended up running through there because it's huge. We got to the stairs that lead to the 14 and the train was already there and people were starting to exit the train. We ran down the stairs but there were so many people on them. It's like the people knew we were trying to get to the movies on time because they all parted like the Red Sea and let us run like crazy people down the stairs. I think I jumped down the last 6 steps...thankfully, we made it on the train...out of breath, but we made it. Once we got to the stop we ran again to the movie theatre. By time we got to the doors to the room there was 6 minutes until the movie started. We had to sit all the way in the front because there were so many people there (it was opening night). I was so sweaty and breathing really hard, so was Katie. Of course we're sitting next to these 2 French guys so we must have looked so beautiful. The movie was awesome. I won't talk about it because I don't want to ruin it for anyone.
Thursday morning when I woke up I was so sore from all the running the day before as well as Tuesday. I was walking like an old lady. I had class at 11:00am at the Foyer so I had to get up kind of early. Dr. Costello is the professor for the class which is called 'Les Espaces Parisien.' I guess it's a literature class. I really don't like Dr. Costello's French accent. He is fluent, but he pauses a lot and I just get so lost. There is a lot of reading to do in his class as well. The class was pretty boring, but the best part (besides the break we got) was when Dr. Costello said 'fuck' like a million times. We were talking about the different levels of French speaking and writing. He wants us to turn in essays that does not include language you'd use with your friends...so classy French. As an example he said, "Do not write 'je m'en fous' in your essay." At first I didn't believe that that's what he said because it basically means 'I don't give a fuck.' However, it can also mean 'I don't care'...it just depends on how you intrepret it. He said it a bunch of times and it was pretty funny. When class finally ended I had to book it over to school because my 2nd class of the day started at 2. Some of the girls from the second group (I like to call them 'The Others' like on LOST) were walking behind me. They didn't talk to me at all. They kept asking each other all these questions that I knew the answers to but I didn't want to butt into their conversation. Maybe they are intimidated by me or something because I've been here much longer than they have...I really don't know. Once we got closer to school this one girl started talking to me. She goes to U of I too, but I've never seen her before.
My second class that day was literature with Madame Berthon, who I had last semester. I think she was really happy to see all of us in her class again and she was always asking us questions. She's such a sweet old lady. When I walked in there were so many people in the classroom. I sat next to Lizzie and the rest of the group. I think I only recognized 3 or 4 of The Others. We had to get more tables and chairs because there were so many people in the room. We passed around this sheet to sign up for exposes on an author. I chose Jean Cocteau. When the paper came around again I noticed that everyone in the classroom, expect one girl, who was in the class last semester, are in IPP and we all go to U of I. When I walked into the room I looked at Lizzie and Antonia and was like, it's U of I central in here!!! It's crazy. Class was pretty good. I think I'll like it a lot more than I liked it first semester. The books that we are going to read seem really good too.
On Friday I had theatre again at the Foyer from 12:00-1:30pm. I like that the class is split up into 2 days because it's so much easier to pay attention when the class is an hour and a half as compared to when it is 3 hours long. Class went by pretty fast. Afterwards, I grabbed a sandwich from this little shop that I go to a lot and rode with Alex (an Other, and who I was in a few French classes with at U of I) to Chatlet. She went shopping and I got on the 1 to meet Sammy Deligio at the Louvre. We went to high school together and he is studying abroad this year in Germany. I told him that I was waiting at the Venus de Milo and he said he would meet me. All of a sudden this guy came up to me and he goes, 'are you Sammy's friend?' I was like umm yeah? ...random, but he turned out to be traveling with Sammy. Sammy ended up getting lost trying to find me. Sammy, Lucas, and April (the other 2 people who he goes to school with), and I hung out around the Louvre for a while. They had never been there before. It was a lot of fun. They invited me out with them that night to get a drink or dinner but I couldn't because I had so much homework to get done. I felt really bad because they had been here since Wednesday but I was so busy with school, I really couldn't meet them until that day. We said good bye and I went back to the apartment and did homework seriously all night.
Saturday I woke up pretty early, ate a quick breakfast and then headed to the bookstore to pick up the rest of my books for class. I finally have them all. I think in total I'll be reading 14 books this semester. I will pretty much know everything there is to know about 18th and 19th century French literature by the end of the semester. When I got back Renee was done installing my new closet system...I totally forgot about that. When Jean-Francois and that old guy came to the apartment last week that's what they were bringing in. They are these giant book case looking things that fit in the closet. They have more shelves and have little drawers on them. It'll keep all my stuff more organized which is nice. All of my clothes were still on my bed so I had to put them all back in the closet when I got back. I guess Renee isn't done installing it or something and said she'd do the rest of it this week...or something like that. I texted Sammy and asked if they wanted to grab and early dinner or drink but I didn't hear back from him. I asked Maya if she wanted to get dinner but she was out being a tourist so she couldn't. Sammy ended up texting me back, acutally it was Lucas who did, and we all met at 7 at Luxembourg and went to dinner.
We ended up going to this creperie and it was so good. I got a smoked salmon crepe with creme fresh and spinach. It was delish! They were all so funny trying to say their dishes in French. The waiter was speaking in English with them and I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Seriously, it would have been easier if he just said it in French and I told the them what he was saying. But, he didn't. After dinner we decided to get a drink at this Irish pub. The boys got Guinness, which they had been craving, and April and I got this beer called 'Mad Beer' which they brew themselves. It was happy hour, so the pint was only 4 euro. It was very good. I was quite surprised. It was a lot better than the beer at had last weekend. After chatting for a while we all left the bar and they headed back to their hostel because they were leaving in the morning. When I got back Renee was in bed...go figure. I talked to Tracey for a while (I miss her!!) which was nice.
Today I did laundry, like every Sunday, and I've been working on homework on and off all day. I have everything done for tomorrow and I don't have class on Tuesday so I'll do some more then. I'm going to make a pizza for dinner and watch another episode of Dexter. Sorry this post was so long. Hopefully this week won't be so crazy. If you've made it this far, thanks!! xoxo
A bientot
ps...GO TEAM USA!!!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
I'm so awkward...
Mathilde and Clemence arrived last night around 9:30, much earlier than Renee thought. I was in my room talking to a friend on Skype so I didn't go out and say hi. I guess Clemence has never been here before or something because Renee was giving him a tour. She stopped by my door and I said hi. Mathilde came by, said hello, (kissed cheecks and everything) and then Renee made them some dinner. I went to bed a little while after so I could watch Dexter.
This morning I got up and it wasn't raining too hard so I decided to go for a run. I was planning on going to Jardin du Luxembourg but since it was kind of raining I decided not to and would just run here. I was shocked that I even went because in reality I would have rather went back to bed. I put my iPhone in the pocket of my sweats so I could use the iPod. However, the phone is pretty heavy so as I started running I noticed that my sweats were slowly slipping off my hips. I had shorts on underneath the sweats but still, it was weird. My sweats, like all of my other clothes are too big so I guess I should have known that they were going to fall. I was only out for 30 minutes. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back to the apartment around 11. Mathilde and Clemence were still sleeping so I decided to take a shower.
I was eating some breakfast, watching tv, and was on facebook when Clemence came into the living room around 12:30. I said hello and he said hi and then walked over to me. I really wasn't sure what he was doing. I thought maybe he was looking for something on the couch but he wasn't. He stuck his hand out to me and I was like ummmm what are you doing. Then I realized that his was leaning in to kiss me hello. I stared at him for a minute because I'm an idiot and then I was like ohhhh....you do this too. God I felt like such an idiot. Talk about awkward!!!! He reminds me of my little brother Steve. He wears those weird skater shoes that Steve wears and he has longer hair, like Steve used to have. After our awkward introduction I went into my room so I wouldn't embarass myself any more.
Renee came back from work around 2 and she ate with Clemence and Mathilde. I left because I needed to do some shopping and really needed to get out of the apartment. I got a sandwich at this bakery and ate it at this little park that is near the grocery store. I'm so French. It was warm out again today...around 54 which was really nice. I went to the store and walked around there for a while trying to decide what I wanted to buy. I am going to have to bring something to eat for lunch on Wednesdays because I won't have enough time to come back to eat lunch after my first class.
I came back around 4 and no one was here. There is a pork roast (yuck) in the oven so I'm assuming that is for dinner. I dont' know if Mathilde or Clemence will be here for dinner. In a way I hope they aren't because my luck I'd just do something awkward. But if they are here that's okay I guess. It'll be a long day tomorrow...class from 10-12 and 2-5....joy!
a bientot
This morning I got up and it wasn't raining too hard so I decided to go for a run. I was planning on going to Jardin du Luxembourg but since it was kind of raining I decided not to and would just run here. I was shocked that I even went because in reality I would have rather went back to bed. I put my iPhone in the pocket of my sweats so I could use the iPod. However, the phone is pretty heavy so as I started running I noticed that my sweats were slowly slipping off my hips. I had shorts on underneath the sweats but still, it was weird. My sweats, like all of my other clothes are too big so I guess I should have known that they were going to fall. I was only out for 30 minutes. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back to the apartment around 11. Mathilde and Clemence were still sleeping so I decided to take a shower.
I was eating some breakfast, watching tv, and was on facebook when Clemence came into the living room around 12:30. I said hello and he said hi and then walked over to me. I really wasn't sure what he was doing. I thought maybe he was looking for something on the couch but he wasn't. He stuck his hand out to me and I was like ummmm what are you doing. Then I realized that his was leaning in to kiss me hello. I stared at him for a minute because I'm an idiot and then I was like ohhhh....you do this too. God I felt like such an idiot. Talk about awkward!!!! He reminds me of my little brother Steve. He wears those weird skater shoes that Steve wears and he has longer hair, like Steve used to have. After our awkward introduction I went into my room so I wouldn't embarass myself any more.
Renee came back from work around 2 and she ate with Clemence and Mathilde. I left because I needed to do some shopping and really needed to get out of the apartment. I got a sandwich at this bakery and ate it at this little park that is near the grocery store. I'm so French. It was warm out again today...around 54 which was really nice. I went to the store and walked around there for a while trying to decide what I wanted to buy. I am going to have to bring something to eat for lunch on Wednesdays because I won't have enough time to come back to eat lunch after my first class.
I came back around 4 and no one was here. There is a pork roast (yuck) in the oven so I'm assuming that is for dinner. I dont' know if Mathilde or Clemence will be here for dinner. In a way I hope they aren't because my luck I'd just do something awkward. But if they are here that's okay I guess. It'll be a long day tomorrow...class from 10-12 and 2-5....joy!
a bientot
Monday, February 22, 2010
This is shaping up to be a good semester!
Second semester started today and I really didn't know what to expect. I got up pretty early, ate some breakfast, showered and then hung out until Renee got back so we could have lunch together. I have a feeling I won't be seeing her very often this semester because Wednesday and Thursday I'll be in class all day and who knows what nights she'll be home because they are always changing. She made some chicken and some weird carrot and potato mashed stuff that reminded me of baby food but I obviously still ate it. The phone rang and she told me that Mathilde and Clemence (Mathilde's little brother) will be arriving tonight and are staying until Friday (joy!). They are on break from school right now. I asked Renee where they were staying and she said that they were staying here. (joy x2) I guess Renee is giving up her bedroom so they can sleep in there and she is going to sleep on the couch. Poor Renee. I left for class shortly after lunch.
I walked into class and there were only a few people in there. I sat near the back of the room. The tables are in a U-shape and I sit in the back so I don't have to turn my head to look at the professor. There was this guy sitting in the back of the room too and he looked at me when I walked in and I figured he must be new because I had never seen him before. He was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals shirt so I hated him right away obviously. Katie is in the same class as me and walked in after I did and sat down next to me. We started talking and then Russian Hottie walked in...yesssss! Hahah. Then, this guy named Juan who is Colombian walked in. He is really awkward looking. He has the longest torso and the longest legs I have ever seen. He should be a swimmer or something. We had a hard time remembering his name so we just call him awkward Colombian. Next, this older looking guy walked in and he looks exactly like Detective Baptista from Dexter. It is the funniest thing ever. There are a bunch of kids in the class. The professor, who's name is Marie-Jose (pronounce the J) is really nice. However, she talked the entire class. We seriously just sat there and listened. It was really boring. We watched this video about the start of WWII and the sound on it was really bad so I have no idea what it really said. Our class is about the history of France in the 20th century. We started today with the Great Depression in France (which happened a little bit after it started in America) and then talked about the beginning of the war.
After our short break she asked all of us to introduce ourselves. She said my name and I told everyone where I was from, where I go to school, and what I am studying. She asked me if I was French and I told her yes. Fontaine is French. Although I said that my grand-parents were French, which isn't correct, but I really wasn't thinking at the time. The guy in the Cardinals shirt, Carl, is from Illinois too, but he lives near St. Louis so he might as well live in Missouri. There were a bunch of girls in the class who all live in this dorm on Ile St. Louis, one of the 2 islands in Paris. Yes, their are 2 islands (Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cite). It's where all the super rich people live and it's like uber fancy over there. They all go to Gonzaga too which is really weird. Class ended with us picking topics for an expose. Every topic Katie and I wanted were being taken before we could say anything. We ended up getting Ho Chi Minh. I really know nothing about him, so that should be interesting. Carl spoke up and was like I want to be in their group. Katie and I looked at each other and were like ummm okay Carl. However, when we were leaving class he changed his mind and decided to work with this other girl who didn't have a partner. I was kinda glad because I really didn't want to work with him, he's awkward.
Mathilde and Clemence should be here around 10:30 or so. I'll probably be in bed avoiding them. I probably won't see much of them because I have class all day Wednesday and Thursday and they are going to leave on Friday. So it shouldn't be too bad....I hope. I'm going to attempt to go jogging tomorrow. It's been a while since I worked out and I just need to do something, so I figured I'd go and burn off some energy. Hopefully I don't have a heart attack. Renee made omlettes for dinner and now my stomach hurts. I don't like eggs, but that's all she was making.
A bientot
I walked into class and there were only a few people in there. I sat near the back of the room. The tables are in a U-shape and I sit in the back so I don't have to turn my head to look at the professor. There was this guy sitting in the back of the room too and he looked at me when I walked in and I figured he must be new because I had never seen him before. He was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals shirt so I hated him right away obviously. Katie is in the same class as me and walked in after I did and sat down next to me. We started talking and then Russian Hottie walked in...yesssss! Hahah. Then, this guy named Juan who is Colombian walked in. He is really awkward looking. He has the longest torso and the longest legs I have ever seen. He should be a swimmer or something. We had a hard time remembering his name so we just call him awkward Colombian. Next, this older looking guy walked in and he looks exactly like Detective Baptista from Dexter. It is the funniest thing ever. There are a bunch of kids in the class. The professor, who's name is Marie-Jose (pronounce the J) is really nice. However, she talked the entire class. We seriously just sat there and listened. It was really boring. We watched this video about the start of WWII and the sound on it was really bad so I have no idea what it really said. Our class is about the history of France in the 20th century. We started today with the Great Depression in France (which happened a little bit after it started in America) and then talked about the beginning of the war.
After our short break she asked all of us to introduce ourselves. She said my name and I told everyone where I was from, where I go to school, and what I am studying. She asked me if I was French and I told her yes. Fontaine is French. Although I said that my grand-parents were French, which isn't correct, but I really wasn't thinking at the time. The guy in the Cardinals shirt, Carl, is from Illinois too, but he lives near St. Louis so he might as well live in Missouri. There were a bunch of girls in the class who all live in this dorm on Ile St. Louis, one of the 2 islands in Paris. Yes, their are 2 islands (Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cite). It's where all the super rich people live and it's like uber fancy over there. They all go to Gonzaga too which is really weird. Class ended with us picking topics for an expose. Every topic Katie and I wanted were being taken before we could say anything. We ended up getting Ho Chi Minh. I really know nothing about him, so that should be interesting. Carl spoke up and was like I want to be in their group. Katie and I looked at each other and were like ummm okay Carl. However, when we were leaving class he changed his mind and decided to work with this other girl who didn't have a partner. I was kinda glad because I really didn't want to work with him, he's awkward.
Mathilde and Clemence should be here around 10:30 or so. I'll probably be in bed avoiding them. I probably won't see much of them because I have class all day Wednesday and Thursday and they are going to leave on Friday. So it shouldn't be too bad....I hope. I'm going to attempt to go jogging tomorrow. It's been a while since I worked out and I just need to do something, so I figured I'd go and burn off some energy. Hopefully I don't have a heart attack. Renee made omlettes for dinner and now my stomach hurts. I don't like eggs, but that's all she was making.
A bientot
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The whole "man of mystery" thing is not working for you...
Last night was interesting to say the least. I went out to dinner with Katie and her friend Rachel. We went to the student cafeteria because it's only 2.90 and the food is pretty good. I had pizza again because their main dish didn't look all that great. They have this really good cherry tart, it was delish. Katie told us all about her trip to Budapest and Prague and she said she had a really good time and it was amazing. We all talked for a while and then decided to go get a beer somewhere. Rachel called her friend asking where some bar was and we decided to try to find it. We had to take like a million and a half trains to get there...it was nuts. I don't know why we just didn't find a place where we were at but I really didn't mind, it's not like I had anything else to do. We had to transfer through Chatlet, which is a HUGE metro stop. So many different trains run through there it is nuts. It is so confusing and I swear we walked a mile to our next train.
I'm really not sure where we got off, I had never been there before but it was near rue de Oberkampf which is in the 11th, I believe. They really weren't sure where this bar was but there were a ton around us so we just started walking trying to find one that looked good. We were going to go into this Spanish bar that had sangria but it was pretty expensive so we decided on somewhere else. We walked into this bar, I don't know the name and were looking at their drink menu on the wall when we noticed that happy hour ended in a few minutes and they had 3.50 Euro pints, so we decided to get that. I can't remember what the beer was called, but they only had 2 on tap, and it had a red handle. I had never heard of it before. It either started with an A or an E and I think it ended in "ger" but I could be wrong. So we order 3 and give the guy a 20 expecting to get a lot of change back. He only gave us back 2 euro and we realized that since it was still happy hour that's not right. Katie and Rachel went back up to the bar while I watched over our beers and table, to sort things out. They guy was being a real prick I guess and said that since the register said it was 9 then he couldn't charge us half price. They wouldn't take that so this other guy who was working there came up and gave us our correct change. What a nice guy. They came back and we just started talking. The beer wasn't that great. It had a cinnamon taste to it which was kind of interesting but it was really tangy. It was only 3.50 so what can you expect right?
Rachel and I had already finished our beers and we were talking and waiting on Katie to finish hers so we could leave when this guy comes up to us and is like omg you're speaking English!!! and we were like uh, yeah. He was like wow, that's so cool (he was American) Katie tells him he can join us if he can find a chair. He said something about going to the bathroom and then he would hunt down a chair. We asked him where he was from and no lie, this is what he said, "Wow, it's been so long, I don't even remember. I'm from the middle of nowhere." He left and went to the bathroom. I was like great, he's a weirdo. He comes back and finds a chair and we asked what his name was and he goes, "well you can call me whatever you want but a lot of my friends call me cave man (said in French)." I looked at this 'Cave Man' and was like dude, why are you trying to be so mysterious, it's clearly not working for you! He finally said that his name was Brian and that he was from California but he's been in Paris for 6 years. He kept asking us these vague questions like what do you want to be when you grow up? (we had already had this discussion before he arrived so we weren't having it again). Then he asks what's the most interesting thing you've ever done in your life. Katie told him that she worked on a presidential campaign and he asked which, to which is replied, Obama. He starts asking her how she feels he is doing and she's like really I don't want to get into this with you and he starts ragging on Obama. We quickly changed the subject and asked him what was so interesting about himself. He's a graffiti artist and is here for his friend's showcase which was going on at the bar tonight. I really didn't notice anything like that was going on. He asked what was interesting about myself and I really couldn't think of anything so I just said that I tap danced from 3 to 18 years old and he goes, oh what was that 2 years ago, and I turn to him and go, no, I'm 21, to which he replies, oh so 3 years then. What an ass. I was tired of him at that point. He started talking about some weird political movement he was involved in but I just tuned him out because he was starting to annoy me. At one point he started talking about how he wished he was in New Orleans when Katrina hit so he could find dead bodies, melt their skin off and use their bones as some crazy piece of art. No lie. We were ready to leave when he told us that we had to go upstairs to watch this video about his artist friend.
We went upstairs and after standing around for a while the video finally started. It was about this artist and it just followed him around the city while he graffitied over stuff. It was really lame and they used a lot of fade out and fade ins it was annoying. I looked at Katie and she looked at me and we both were like, this is lame and decided that at the next fade out we were going to leave. The fade out never came and the movie finally ended. We left right after. We laughed at the hilarity of the evening all the way back to the metro.
Overall it was a fun night full of interesting characters. So the apartment door just opened up and it's only 4:19, way too early for Renee to be back. It ended up being Jean-Francois and some old guy (not sure who he is) carrying in furniture. They scared the crap out of me. I had no idea that they would be coming. I don't even know what they are doing. Although I think they just left...bizarre. School starts tomorrow, should be a fun time.
A bientot
I'm really not sure where we got off, I had never been there before but it was near rue de Oberkampf which is in the 11th, I believe. They really weren't sure where this bar was but there were a ton around us so we just started walking trying to find one that looked good. We were going to go into this Spanish bar that had sangria but it was pretty expensive so we decided on somewhere else. We walked into this bar, I don't know the name and were looking at their drink menu on the wall when we noticed that happy hour ended in a few minutes and they had 3.50 Euro pints, so we decided to get that. I can't remember what the beer was called, but they only had 2 on tap, and it had a red handle. I had never heard of it before. It either started with an A or an E and I think it ended in "ger" but I could be wrong. So we order 3 and give the guy a 20 expecting to get a lot of change back. He only gave us back 2 euro and we realized that since it was still happy hour that's not right. Katie and Rachel went back up to the bar while I watched over our beers and table, to sort things out. They guy was being a real prick I guess and said that since the register said it was 9 then he couldn't charge us half price. They wouldn't take that so this other guy who was working there came up and gave us our correct change. What a nice guy. They came back and we just started talking. The beer wasn't that great. It had a cinnamon taste to it which was kind of interesting but it was really tangy. It was only 3.50 so what can you expect right?
Rachel and I had already finished our beers and we were talking and waiting on Katie to finish hers so we could leave when this guy comes up to us and is like omg you're speaking English!!! and we were like uh, yeah. He was like wow, that's so cool (he was American) Katie tells him he can join us if he can find a chair. He said something about going to the bathroom and then he would hunt down a chair. We asked him where he was from and no lie, this is what he said, "Wow, it's been so long, I don't even remember. I'm from the middle of nowhere." He left and went to the bathroom. I was like great, he's a weirdo. He comes back and finds a chair and we asked what his name was and he goes, "well you can call me whatever you want but a lot of my friends call me cave man (said in French)." I looked at this 'Cave Man' and was like dude, why are you trying to be so mysterious, it's clearly not working for you! He finally said that his name was Brian and that he was from California but he's been in Paris for 6 years. He kept asking us these vague questions like what do you want to be when you grow up? (we had already had this discussion before he arrived so we weren't having it again). Then he asks what's the most interesting thing you've ever done in your life. Katie told him that she worked on a presidential campaign and he asked which, to which is replied, Obama. He starts asking her how she feels he is doing and she's like really I don't want to get into this with you and he starts ragging on Obama. We quickly changed the subject and asked him what was so interesting about himself. He's a graffiti artist and is here for his friend's showcase which was going on at the bar tonight. I really didn't notice anything like that was going on. He asked what was interesting about myself and I really couldn't think of anything so I just said that I tap danced from 3 to 18 years old and he goes, oh what was that 2 years ago, and I turn to him and go, no, I'm 21, to which he replies, oh so 3 years then. What an ass. I was tired of him at that point. He started talking about some weird political movement he was involved in but I just tuned him out because he was starting to annoy me. At one point he started talking about how he wished he was in New Orleans when Katrina hit so he could find dead bodies, melt their skin off and use their bones as some crazy piece of art. No lie. We were ready to leave when he told us that we had to go upstairs to watch this video about his artist friend.
We went upstairs and after standing around for a while the video finally started. It was about this artist and it just followed him around the city while he graffitied over stuff. It was really lame and they used a lot of fade out and fade ins it was annoying. I looked at Katie and she looked at me and we both were like, this is lame and decided that at the next fade out we were going to leave. The fade out never came and the movie finally ended. We left right after. We laughed at the hilarity of the evening all the way back to the metro.
Overall it was a fun night full of interesting characters. So the apartment door just opened up and it's only 4:19, way too early for Renee to be back. It ended up being Jean-Francois and some old guy (not sure who he is) carrying in furniture. They scared the crap out of me. I had no idea that they would be coming. I don't even know what they are doing. Although I think they just left...bizarre. School starts tomorrow, should be a fun time.
A bientot
Friday, February 19, 2010
I have an addiction...I think I need rehab
It's been awhile and I've been lazy so that's why I haven't updated. On Wednesday I went to the book store and paper store to get some supplies for school which starts on Monday. I've noticed that in France you usually can't buy all of your items in one convenient spot like you can in America. For example, if I needed a new light bulb and some groceries, I would have to go to the market and then the hardware store. They usually don't sell a variety of light bulbs at the grocery store like they would at Wal-Mart. Anyways, I went to the paper store and bought a new notebook and then headed to the bookstore to pick up some of the books that I need for my classes this semester. I ended up getting 5 books at Gilbert Joseph, 4 of which I really needed. The one book I bought for myself. It's a book of letters between Vincent VanGogh and his brother Theo. Our art professor read us a few of the passages and it looks really interesting. I had to go to this other book store to buy my other books. This woman who worked at the first store told me to go to the wrong store, so after walking way out of my way, I turned around and went back the other direction to Gilbert Jeune, another book store. They only had 2 of the books that I needed. I think I need to buy 1 more book. Some of the authors that I will be reading this semster are: Balzac, Cocteau, Hugo...just to name a few. I hope they are good. I've developed a problem with buying books. I have boughten so many books here I have no idea how I am going to get them all home. I brought 3 with me and have bought 14....but the majority of them I needed. I need rehab for books like Tiger Woods needs rehab for sex. What an idiot.
On Thursday I really didn't do anything. My friend Maya, who goes to U of I and will be here for the 2nd semester arrived on Wednesday and said she'd call me Thursday when she was done with her orientation things and maybe we could get together. By the time 4pm rolled around she still hadn't called and I figured she wouldn't for the rest of the day so I decided to watch some Dexter and some movies. It was just a really chill day.
Today I went to Musee d'Orsay because I haven't been there in a while. There were these really annoying teenage boys and their teacher or something standing in front of me in line and they were incredibly rude. They were mocking this guy who said Musee d'Orsay (he was American) weird. I just don't get why it was necessary to mock him. They then got stuck in the turning door and the guard at the door and I laughed. Serves them right. There were a bunch of people at the museum today so I went and looked a some things that I haven't seen before and stayed away from the more popular areas. I met Amira, a girl in my program, at Chatalet and she gave me the package that my parents sent to her while she was at home. We went to McDonalds to get a snack and talked. She's really nice and we have a few classes together this semester which is cool.
I really don't have any plans for the weekend...I really just want to relax because school starts on Monday. Speaking of school, I found out yesterday that I don't have class on Tuesday. I got this schedule in the mail from Dr. Costello and if he wouldn't of sent it I would have went to class on Tuesday. I have class from 2-5pm on Mondays, no class Tuesday, 10:30-12pm and 2-5 pm on Wednesday, 11-1:30pm and 2-5pm on Thursday, and 11-1:30pm on Friday. Wednesdays and Thursdays are gonna BLOW....ugh!!! I hope everyone saw my 2nd favorite ginger and my future husband, Shaun White, tear up the half pipe and win the gold. I, sadly didn't get to see it. I saw his first run which was on around 11pm here, but the finals were not on until night in Vancouver, so I was obvs sleeping. I've been trying to find it on the internet, but haven't had any luck. I've heard it was AMAZING. Oh well.... :(
A bientot
On Thursday I really didn't do anything. My friend Maya, who goes to U of I and will be here for the 2nd semester arrived on Wednesday and said she'd call me Thursday when she was done with her orientation things and maybe we could get together. By the time 4pm rolled around she still hadn't called and I figured she wouldn't for the rest of the day so I decided to watch some Dexter and some movies. It was just a really chill day.
Today I went to Musee d'Orsay because I haven't been there in a while. There were these really annoying teenage boys and their teacher or something standing in front of me in line and they were incredibly rude. They were mocking this guy who said Musee d'Orsay (he was American) weird. I just don't get why it was necessary to mock him. They then got stuck in the turning door and the guard at the door and I laughed. Serves them right. There were a bunch of people at the museum today so I went and looked a some things that I haven't seen before and stayed away from the more popular areas. I met Amira, a girl in my program, at Chatalet and she gave me the package that my parents sent to her while she was at home. We went to McDonalds to get a snack and talked. She's really nice and we have a few classes together this semester which is cool.
I really don't have any plans for the weekend...I really just want to relax because school starts on Monday. Speaking of school, I found out yesterday that I don't have class on Tuesday. I got this schedule in the mail from Dr. Costello and if he wouldn't of sent it I would have went to class on Tuesday. I have class from 2-5pm on Mondays, no class Tuesday, 10:30-12pm and 2-5 pm on Wednesday, 11-1:30pm and 2-5pm on Thursday, and 11-1:30pm on Friday. Wednesdays and Thursdays are gonna BLOW....ugh!!! I hope everyone saw my 2nd favorite ginger and my future husband, Shaun White, tear up the half pipe and win the gold. I, sadly didn't get to see it. I saw his first run which was on around 11pm here, but the finals were not on until night in Vancouver, so I was obvs sleeping. I've been trying to find it on the internet, but haven't had any luck. I've heard it was AMAZING. Oh well.... :(
A bientot
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
La Defense...Modern Paris
Today I planned on going to Musee d'Orsay but when I woke up it was so sunny that I changed my mind and decided to go to La Grande Arche. La Grande Arche is located in La Defense which is a very modern part of Paris. If you were to go there you would have no 
idea you were in Paris based off the architecture. It took me about 45 minutes to get there on the metro. Parts of the 1, the metro line that I took to get there, are now automated, meaning that there are glass doors that seperate the passengers standing on the platform from the train. They do this to reduce the number of suicides. Many people in Paris commit suicide by jumping in front of the train. The doors, which only open when the train gets there, make it nearly impossible to jump in front of the train. It's really cool looking. Parts of the 1 are above ground and run next to a road. When I got to La Defense I got lost in the station and couldn't figure out how to get out. I seriously walked back and forth looking for the right exit 4 times. The people who were in the shops must have thought I was crazy. I finally found it and walked out and saw La Grande Arche. La Grande Arche is a part of the Axe Historique. The Axe Historique is basically a line of monuments that stretches from La Grande Arche all the way to the Louvre...it's pretty much right down the center of Paris. Starting from La Grande Arche you have l'Arc de Triomphe next, l'obelisque, and then ending at the Louvre.
idea you were in Paris based off the architecture. It took me about 45 minutes to get there on the metro. Parts of the 1, the metro line that I took to get there, are now automated, meaning that there are glass doors that seperate the passengers standing on the platform from the train. They do this to reduce the number of suicides. Many people in Paris commit suicide by jumping in front of the train. The doors, which only open when the train gets there, make it nearly impossible to jump in front of the train. It's really cool looking. Parts of the 1 are above ground and run next to a road. When I got to La Defense I got lost in the station and couldn't figure out how to get out. I seriously walked back and forth looking for the right exit 4 times. The people who were in the shops must have thought I was crazy. I finally found it and walked out and saw La Grande Arche. La Grande Arche is a part of the Axe Historique. The Axe Historique is basically a line of monuments that stretches from La Grande Arche all the way to the Louvre...it's pretty much right down the center of Paris. Starting from La Grande Arche you have l'Arc de Triomphe next, l'obelisque, and then ending at the Louvre.I noticed this giant brown thing sticking out of the ground after I saw La Grande Arche, which is basically a giant cube made of concrete and glass. When I saw this brown thing at first I thought it was a giant penis sticking out of the ground...not gonna lie. But,
upon closer inspection, I figured out that it was a thumb. I really don't know why there was a giant brown thumb sticking out of the ground but I went with it. I figured this is the mordern part of Paris so who says they can't have a giant thumb/penis sticking out of the ground? The buildings in La Defense are so different from what you normally see in Paris. It was like being Chicago. I climbed these stairs that lead up to the cube and looked around there for a while. It was really expensive to ride the glass elevator to the top so I passed. I sat on the stairs for a while just people watching and enjoying the sun. This guy came up to me and asked me if he could sit down and I said sure. There were like a million other spots on the stairs so why he wanted to sit next to me I have no idea. Probably because I was alone. We were speaking in French and I was having a hard time understanding him, mostly because I had one ear bud in because I really didn't want to talk to him, and partly because he was mumbeling and talking really fast. He asked where I was from and what I was doing here, the usual creeper questions. He asked me something and I told him that I didn't understand him and he was like offended or something. Maybe if he wasn't mumbeling I could understand what he was saying. Better yet, if he would just take the hint that I didn't want to talk to him that would've been better. He asked what my name was and he said that his name was Gui, then he goes, "that's Guy in English" I was like well no shit...I got tired of talking to him at that point so I told him I was meeting a friend and left...total lie. I don't get why only French black men creep on me. Seriously, it's never a white guy. Not that I have a problem with black men, I just don't get it.
upon closer inspection, I figured out that it was a thumb. I really don't know why there was a giant brown thumb sticking out of the ground but I went with it. I figured this is the mordern part of Paris so who says they can't have a giant thumb/penis sticking out of the ground? The buildings in La Defense are so different from what you normally see in Paris. It was like being Chicago. I climbed these stairs that lead up to the cube and looked around there for a while. It was really expensive to ride the glass elevator to the top so I passed. I sat on the stairs for a while just people watching and enjoying the sun. This guy came up to me and asked me if he could sit down and I said sure. There were like a million other spots on the stairs so why he wanted to sit next to me I have no idea. Probably because I was alone. We were speaking in French and I was having a hard time understanding him, mostly because I had one ear bud in because I really didn't want to talk to him, and partly because he was mumbeling and talking really fast. He asked where I was from and what I was doing here, the usual creeper questions. He asked me something and I told him that I didn't understand him and he was like offended or something. Maybe if he wasn't mumbeling I could understand what he was saying. Better yet, if he would just take the hint that I didn't want to talk to him that would've been better. He asked what my name was and he said that his name was Gui, then he goes, "that's Guy in English" I was like well no shit...I got tired of talking to him at that point so I told him I was meeting a friend and left...total lie. I don't get why only French black men creep on me. Seriously, it's never a white guy. Not that I have a problem with black men, I just don't get it. I walked further down La Defense and hoped my creeper Gui wasn't following me, because that's happened to me before. Th
ere was a cool looking sculpture so I went and checked that out. I'm not really sure what it was but it was interesting. I looked to my left and saw a sculpture that looked a lot like the Flamingo scuplture by Alexander Calder in Chicago. I thought for a minute that I was a copy, but it turns out it is called L'araignee Rouge (The Red Spider) by Clader. Either way, it was really awesome looking and reminded me of home. I walked back to the metro station because I was really cold despite the sun and got a delish drink from McCafe and got back on the metro.
ere was a cool looking sculpture so I went and checked that out. I'm not really sure what it was but it was interesting. I looked to my left and saw a sculpture that looked a lot like the Flamingo scuplture by Alexander Calder in Chicago. I thought for a minute that I was a copy, but it turns out it is called L'araignee Rouge (The Red Spider) by Clader. Either way, it was really awesome looking and reminded me of home. I walked back to the metro station because I was really cold despite the sun and got a delish drink from McCafe and got back on the metro.Happy Mardi Gras by the way. I totally forgot that was today until Renee left me a note saying that we were having crepes tonight because of it. Needless to say it was a delish dinner complete with lots of sugar and ice cream and hard apple cider, which I LOVE! I won't be going to bed for a while because of all the sugar. I'm really annoyed with the Olympics coverage here. I understand that this is France and they want to see their athletes, but they showed 15 minutes of the first period of the USA vs Switzerland hockey game and they haven't gotten back to it. I guess I'll have to hope that it will be online tomorrow. I wanted to watch the men's snowboard cross finals but they only had the qualifying rounds on the internet today. I believe the half pipe competition starts tonight but I'd rather wait to watch it online so I can see all of it and it'll be in English. Well, my episode of Dexter is done loading, so I'm going to watch that.
A bientot!
Monday, February 15, 2010
I never knew this was here!!
Today I decided to go to the Louvre because I haven't been there in a while. Knowing that it's Monday, and a lot of museums are closed, I knew that there were going to be a lot of people at the Louvre. However, I figured that if I stayed as far as possible from anything near The Mona Lisa I may be able to avoid the crowds. I've noticed that I get really nervous in big crowds. I'm not really sure why, but really since being here it's become a problem. I wouldn't really call it a problem, I just really don't like it. Anyways, I was standing in line waiting to get my purse scanned and the group of people that were behind me must have been dying to get in because they told me the line was moving a bunch of times. I wanted to turn around and tell them to back off because the lady in front of me hardly even moved, I don't need to stand on top of her. I got through security and went straight to the Richelieu wing. I have been in all of the wings of the Louvre (there are 3) but I have never started out in this wing. It is less crowded than the Denon wing, which is where The Mona Lisa is located. I walked in and went to this open court yard that used to be outside because I read that a glass roof was put on a while ago. There were a lot of statues in there, a lot of Diane and her animals. Google her. I sat down for a while because when I go to the Louvre I like to people watch. This guy came up to me after I was sitting for a few minutes and asked me if I spoke English and asked if I would take a picture of him. I took his picture next to this statue...not sure what it was. There were about 5 other people who took their pictures by it before him so maybe he thought it was important or something. I've noticed that in big museums like the Louvre, people all tend to flock to where other people go. If a bunch of people are looking at one painting, anyone who passes by either stops to look at the painting to see why so many people are looking at it. If you don't believe me, the next time you go to a museum watch the people...it's quite interesting.
I ended up taking some pictures of the stautes that I thought were cool looking and also took some photos of random people in the museum. It's cool to look at the way other people explore a museum. I wandered around the wing some more and ended up in the apartments of Napoleon III. I had no idea these were even here!! They were so cool. There was this giant room that had 3 HUGE chandeliers in it and the ceiling was covered in paintings, flying angel babies, and gold...you know, just your typical everyday ceiling. It reminded me of a tea room or something. I could totally imagine some pretentious king (like Napoleon) walking around demanding his tea with 2 sugars or something. There was this older group of Americans, they must have been friends or something, and one of the women goes, "I can't imagine what their electricity bill must have been back then with all of these chandeliers!!" The other woman responds, "I don't think they had electricity back then." They confered with their respected husbands and they told them they would have used candles back then. It was pretty funny.
I left the wing and stood above the ground floor for a while just watching all the people standing under the pyramid or in the incredibly long lines to get tickets. There were a bunch of guided tours there and the people are so funny because they always carry something and wave it around like a crazy person so their huge group can follow them. Today, this Asian woman was holding a gaint cone she made out of a bunch of maps of the museum...what a waste of paper. I left the museum after that because I was tired of watching people. On the metro coming back to the apartment, this emo girl was holding her nose the entire time because something smelled bad to her. I didn't smell anything and it wasn't me, so I don't know what her problem was.
I found out that I can apply to be a part of this French Honors Society at U of I but I'm not sure if I really can though because they want to know what my gpa for my French grades and my overall gpa was for this semester. However, I really don't know what it is because I only have French grades, and they are a lot different than the grades at U of I. I emailed the head of the French department so we'll see what she says. I also figured out that I can watch all the events that I am missing of the Olympics because of the crappy time difference between Paris and Vancouver on this website called Ninjavideo. It's awesome. They have Dexter too. Today I watched the Men's freestyle Mogels. Congrats Canada on winning your first medal on home soil....hahah. After hosting the games 3 times, last night was the first time they won on their own land. That's sad Canada. Snowboarding starts tonight, even though it's snowboard cross, which Shaun White doesn't do, but I'll still watch it tomorrow if it's on too late here, which it probably is.
A bientot
I ended up taking some pictures of the stautes that I thought were cool looking and also took some photos of random people in the museum. It's cool to look at the way other people explore a museum. I wandered around the wing some more and ended up in the apartments of Napoleon III. I had no idea these were even here!! They were so cool. There was this giant room that had 3 HUGE chandeliers in it and the ceiling was covered in paintings, flying angel babies, and gold...you know, just your typical everyday ceiling. It reminded me of a tea room or something. I could totally imagine some pretentious king (like Napoleon) walking around demanding his tea with 2 sugars or something. There was this older group of Americans, they must have been friends or something, and one of the women goes, "I can't imagine what their electricity bill must have been back then with all of these chandeliers!!" The other woman responds, "I don't think they had electricity back then." They confered with their respected husbands and they told them they would have used candles back then. It was pretty funny.
I left the wing and stood above the ground floor for a while just watching all the people standing under the pyramid or in the incredibly long lines to get tickets. There were a bunch of guided tours there and the people are so funny because they always carry something and wave it around like a crazy person so their huge group can follow them. Today, this Asian woman was holding a gaint cone she made out of a bunch of maps of the museum...what a waste of paper. I left the museum after that because I was tired of watching people. On the metro coming back to the apartment, this emo girl was holding her nose the entire time because something smelled bad to her. I didn't smell anything and it wasn't me, so I don't know what her problem was.
I found out that I can apply to be a part of this French Honors Society at U of I but I'm not sure if I really can though because they want to know what my gpa for my French grades and my overall gpa was for this semester. However, I really don't know what it is because I only have French grades, and they are a lot different than the grades at U of I. I emailed the head of the French department so we'll see what she says. I also figured out that I can watch all the events that I am missing of the Olympics because of the crappy time difference between Paris and Vancouver on this website called Ninjavideo. It's awesome. They have Dexter too. Today I watched the Men's freestyle Mogels. Congrats Canada on winning your first medal on home soil....hahah. After hosting the games 3 times, last night was the first time they won on their own land. That's sad Canada. Snowboarding starts tonight, even though it's snowboard cross, which Shaun White doesn't do, but I'll still watch it tomorrow if it's on too late here, which it probably is.
A bientot
Sunday, February 14, 2010
J.O. d'hiver 2010
The Winter Olympics have finally started and I haven't seen much of them. On Friday I went back to Les Halles and ended up hanging out at Starbucks drinking an incredibly expensive Chai Tea Latte and reading a book. This homeless guy kept coming up to everyone and asking for money. There was this other woman who was yelling at these other homeless men because I guess they were in her spot or something and she spit at them...I'm serious, she really did spit and it was gross. There are so many homeless people in Paris it's bad. They are always on the metro asking for money. Anyways, so I stayed at Startbucks for an hour or two and then came back to the apartment. Renee was going to dinner at her friends house so I made my own dinner, which wasn't that great. The opening ceremony didn't start until 2:45 am here in Paris because Paris is 9 hours ahead of Vancouver. I tried to stay up to watch it because I really like watching them. I started watching a movie around 11 and ended up falling asleep on the couch. Renee came back close to 1am and scared the crap out of me. She went out to walk Norton and I went in my room to take a nap before the games started. I couldn't sleep so I watched Dexter instead. I saw that it was 2:30 so I put my glasses back on (I did end up falling asleep mid Dexter) but I must have fallen back asleep because when I woke up a few hours later my glasses were still on. I was pretty angry that I missed the opening ceremony but I just rolled over and went back to sleep.
Saturday morning I woke up as Renee was leaving for the day. I turned on the tv and they were replaying the opening ceremony so I got to watch it. I was ready for a day of watching the Olympics but it wasn't on. Then I figured out that it was only 4am in Vancouver so obviously they wouldn't be doing anything. I did nothing yesterday, it was pretty lame. It rained all day and I really didn't feel like going out. I ended up watching the France vs Ireland rugby match. I like it a lot more than soccer, I just don't understand the rules. As they were all pushing each other the comentators started joking around about how you could see the guy on team France's underware....they were pink. No lie. Hahaha...it was pretty funny. Renee came back and said that she was making eggs for dinner because she bought like a dozen and needs to eat them. Needless to say I didn't eat dinner with her because I don't like eggs. We talked about the game for a little while but she knows just as much as I do about rugby, which isn't very much. The Olympics were delayed, I'm assuming because of the weather. When they finally came on at 11 it was some lame event that was live. This French girl ended up getting the bronze. It was some weird skiing thing where they go around this track and then shoot this target with a weird looking gun. It was lame. Nothing was on after that (I'm assuming because they started much, much later here) so I went to bed.
This morning I read that team USA has 4 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze). I watched a recap on tv of speed skating and this skiing thing with all the hills and they go off the jumps, I'm not sure what it's called. This American girl ended up beating this Canadian on her last run and got gold, it was sweet....take that Canada! I really hope I get to watch hockey and snowboarding but I have no idea what time they will be on here. I found a schedule for French tv but stuff isn't on when it says it is...it's annoying. I need to figured out what I need for school this semester, notebook and folder wise, so that's the plan for today. I want to get them this week sometime.
Happy Valentines Day I guess....what a lame holiday
A bientot
Saturday morning I woke up as Renee was leaving for the day. I turned on the tv and they were replaying the opening ceremony so I got to watch it. I was ready for a day of watching the Olympics but it wasn't on. Then I figured out that it was only 4am in Vancouver so obviously they wouldn't be doing anything. I did nothing yesterday, it was pretty lame. It rained all day and I really didn't feel like going out. I ended up watching the France vs Ireland rugby match. I like it a lot more than soccer, I just don't understand the rules. As they were all pushing each other the comentators started joking around about how you could see the guy on team France's underware....they were pink. No lie. Hahaha...it was pretty funny. Renee came back and said that she was making eggs for dinner because she bought like a dozen and needs to eat them. Needless to say I didn't eat dinner with her because I don't like eggs. We talked about the game for a little while but she knows just as much as I do about rugby, which isn't very much. The Olympics were delayed, I'm assuming because of the weather. When they finally came on at 11 it was some lame event that was live. This French girl ended up getting the bronze. It was some weird skiing thing where they go around this track and then shoot this target with a weird looking gun. It was lame. Nothing was on after that (I'm assuming because they started much, much later here) so I went to bed.
This morning I read that team USA has 4 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze). I watched a recap on tv of speed skating and this skiing thing with all the hills and they go off the jumps, I'm not sure what it's called. This American girl ended up beating this Canadian on her last run and got gold, it was sweet....take that Canada! I really hope I get to watch hockey and snowboarding but I have no idea what time they will be on here. I found a schedule for French tv but stuff isn't on when it says it is...it's annoying. I need to figured out what I need for school this semester, notebook and folder wise, so that's the plan for today. I want to get them this week sometime.
Happy Valentines Day I guess....what a lame holiday
A bientot
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Pompidou...more like Pompidon't
Jean-Francois ended up staying for dinner last night. It was interesting to see how much different he acts when Renee is around...he actually talks, not as much as Caroline (Renee's daughter) does, but still it was something. Renee made potatoes and some weird ground beef stuff that was really dry. Even Jean-Francois said it was dry. I told them both about the earthquake and all the snow that we got back home and they both thought it was cool I guess. Then Jean-Francois started talking about how Vancouver isn't getting enough snow that they need for the Olympic Games. In French the Olympics are called Jeux Olympiques and Jean-Francois kepts saying JO...which I wasn't sure what it stood for. I asked and then he responds in English that it's the first letters of the words. I knew what the French word for Olympics was, I just didn't understand the abbreviation. I really don't understand why he felt the need to say it in English, that just makes me feel dumb. I know what you're saying, you don't have to make me feel like an idiot by saying it in English. There was a soccer game on during dinner and I was watching it while Jean-Francois and Renee were talking. One of the teams scored a goal and I was like "gooooaaalll!!!" why, I'm not sure but they both looked at me and Jean-Francois asked if I liked soccer and Renee looks at him and is like no, she's likes American football, not football. It was pretty funny.
Today I planned on going to the Centre Pompidou which I haven't been to in a while and it's a really sweet museum. While I was on my way to the museum, I was on the metro and ended up sitting in one of the 4 seater sections and of course Don Juan and his girl friend are sitting across from me and can't keep their own tongues in their own mouths. It was so gross. I threw up in my mouth a little. He was really ugly and had a crazy beard and she had really greasy hair. I was really glad when I got off the metro. I got to the museum around 2:30 ish and ended up going in the back entrance. I started walking down the flight of stairs that leads to the ticket counters and saw the line. I don't know why there were so many people there but the line was all the way to the door and they had it snaked all the way up to the counters, three of which were open. I really didn't feel like standing in line so I bundled back up and went outside and went for a walk. The walk ended up being a bad idea because it's really cold out and snowing. It's not nice snow either, it's more like rain/snow...it's gross and cold and was getting in my eyes which was really annoying. I ended up walking to Les Halles. I looked around the H&M for some jeans, all of mine are too big now. Of course I found some that I really liked, but they all were made to fit a stick person. It was really annoying so I left without jeans.
I got back on the metro and this really cute guy gets on and sits across from me. I looked at him, he looked at me, and then he immediately looks away like he got caught doing something bad. French people have a problem making eye contact with other people. I'm not even joking, it's seriously faux pas to look someone in the eyes on the metro. They look away right away and start staring into space. Sometimes I just like to keep looking at them, because what's wrong with looking at someone? I didn't keep staring at the guy on the metro because he was obviously repulsed by me and I didn't want to scare him any more. The French people need to get over their fear of making eye contact, it's annoying. Also, the French don't talk on the metro, it's very quiet. The only people who talk are the people who get on with someone else and they were already involved in a conversation when the train arrived, or annoying tourists. Seriously Frenchies, the metro is not a library, it's okay to say something other than 'pardon' when you want to get off the train and someone is in your way.
I came back to the apartment and started watching the first episode of season 2 of Dexer. I'm completely addicted to Dexter now, it's bad. But it's so hard not to though because the show is so good and come on, it's Dexter Morgan. I'm not quite sure if Renee is coming back for dinner tonight. She came back around lunch and said that she was going to the doctors and then said something about tonight but she was making a bunch of noise putting her coat back on so I didn't hear what she said, so I guess I'll wait and see.
A bientot
Today I planned on going to the Centre Pompidou which I haven't been to in a while and it's a really sweet museum. While I was on my way to the museum, I was on the metro and ended up sitting in one of the 4 seater sections and of course Don Juan and his girl friend are sitting across from me and can't keep their own tongues in their own mouths. It was so gross. I threw up in my mouth a little. He was really ugly and had a crazy beard and she had really greasy hair. I was really glad when I got off the metro. I got to the museum around 2:30 ish and ended up going in the back entrance. I started walking down the flight of stairs that leads to the ticket counters and saw the line. I don't know why there were so many people there but the line was all the way to the door and they had it snaked all the way up to the counters, three of which were open. I really didn't feel like standing in line so I bundled back up and went outside and went for a walk. The walk ended up being a bad idea because it's really cold out and snowing. It's not nice snow either, it's more like rain/snow...it's gross and cold and was getting in my eyes which was really annoying. I ended up walking to Les Halles. I looked around the H&M for some jeans, all of mine are too big now. Of course I found some that I really liked, but they all were made to fit a stick person. It was really annoying so I left without jeans.
I got back on the metro and this really cute guy gets on and sits across from me. I looked at him, he looked at me, and then he immediately looks away like he got caught doing something bad. French people have a problem making eye contact with other people. I'm not even joking, it's seriously faux pas to look someone in the eyes on the metro. They look away right away and start staring into space. Sometimes I just like to keep looking at them, because what's wrong with looking at someone? I didn't keep staring at the guy on the metro because he was obviously repulsed by me and I didn't want to scare him any more. The French people need to get over their fear of making eye contact, it's annoying. Also, the French don't talk on the metro, it's very quiet. The only people who talk are the people who get on with someone else and they were already involved in a conversation when the train arrived, or annoying tourists. Seriously Frenchies, the metro is not a library, it's okay to say something other than 'pardon' when you want to get off the train and someone is in your way.
I came back to the apartment and started watching the first episode of season 2 of Dexer. I'm completely addicted to Dexter now, it's bad. But it's so hard not to though because the show is so good and come on, it's Dexter Morgan. I'm not quite sure if Renee is coming back for dinner tonight. She came back around lunch and said that she was going to the doctors and then said something about tonight but she was making a bunch of noise putting her coat back on so I didn't hear what she said, so I guess I'll wait and see.
A bientot
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
GREECE IS BOOKED!!!!
Renee didn't end up going out last night. When she came back to the apartment she came in the kitchen and goes, you're cooking? I told her yeah, but really wanted to go well yeah, no duh I'm cooking, you told me you weren't going to be back for dinner and it's after 7 and I'm starving so I started making dinner for myself. But I didn't say that. I made chicken, which I've pretty much become a pro at making. I also made some pasta and warmed up some ratatouille which is just roasted veggies in a tomato based sauce. It was delish, a lot better than the couscous, corn and tomatoes that I made last time. Renee started putting some leftovers on a plate for herself and I assumed that she would eat with me. She didn't; instead she talked on her phone in the living room the entire time. I try not to be nosey and listen to what she's saying to her sister, who she talks to all the time, which is cool, but I feel that if I listen to what she's saying and try to understand it, it's helping my French, even though it's kinda nosey. After I was done eating I cleaned up my things and put everything away. As I was walking back to my room Renee stopped me and asked me to come here, she was in the kitchen, I wasn't sure what she wanted so I went and she told me that there was grease on the stovetop from the chicken that I cooked. I didn't even realize that it was there because it wasn't that much grease. I told her that I was sorry and she said it was no big deal. Well, if it wasn't a big deal than why did you tell me? I cleaned it up though because I felt bad that she noticed it and I didn't.
Today I had lunch with Katie at the student cafeteria. I had a veggie pizza this time. It was pretty good. I also had a slice of a chocolate tarte which was really good. It was snowing really hard when we left. I love when it snows in Paris, it's so pretty. However, everyone here hates it because everyone and their mom was on the metro today. We left the cafeteria and went back to Katie's dorm so we could book stuff for Greece. It ended up costing around $335 for the flight from Paris to Athens and then from Santorini to Paris, which I guess isn't that bad. And it'll be only around $35 for the hostel in Santorini for 5 days. The flights were a little more expensive than I would have liked them to be but there's really nothing I can do about it. I told Katie that I bet my bank will call me about suspicious activity on my card and no lie, like 5 seconds after my order went through TCF bank called me. Props to them for being on top of things but it was an uncessary phone call because I already told them I would be in Europe using the card. We hung out for a bit and then left because Katie has a tuitoring job teaching this kid English. I think I'd be pretty good at a job like that so I might try to find one once school starts again.
Around 6:30 someone came into the apartment and I freaked out a little bit because Renee doesn't come back until around 7:30. It was Jean-Francois, Renee's son. He brought Norton back. I'm really glad that Norton is back, I've missed talking to him in English and him giving me funny looks because he has no idea what I'm saying. I'm not sure if Jean-Francois is staying for dinner but Renee said she was making dinner tonight. I don't even know if he's staying the night, he didn't bring a bag so I'm assuming he's not. He was more talkative to me today though. He asked me 4 questions.....you go Jean-Francois!
So I heard that we got a bunch of snow at home and I guess there was an earthquake this morning?? I'm missing all the good stuff. Oh, and, the U of I men's basketball team beat No. 11 Wisconsin last night....OH YESS!!!! I-L-L-I-N-I!!!
A bientot
Today I had lunch with Katie at the student cafeteria. I had a veggie pizza this time. It was pretty good. I also had a slice of a chocolate tarte which was really good. It was snowing really hard when we left. I love when it snows in Paris, it's so pretty. However, everyone here hates it because everyone and their mom was on the metro today. We left the cafeteria and went back to Katie's dorm so we could book stuff for Greece. It ended up costing around $335 for the flight from Paris to Athens and then from Santorini to Paris, which I guess isn't that bad. And it'll be only around $35 for the hostel in Santorini for 5 days. The flights were a little more expensive than I would have liked them to be but there's really nothing I can do about it. I told Katie that I bet my bank will call me about suspicious activity on my card and no lie, like 5 seconds after my order went through TCF bank called me. Props to them for being on top of things but it was an uncessary phone call because I already told them I would be in Europe using the card. We hung out for a bit and then left because Katie has a tuitoring job teaching this kid English. I think I'd be pretty good at a job like that so I might try to find one once school starts again.
Around 6:30 someone came into the apartment and I freaked out a little bit because Renee doesn't come back until around 7:30. It was Jean-Francois, Renee's son. He brought Norton back. I'm really glad that Norton is back, I've missed talking to him in English and him giving me funny looks because he has no idea what I'm saying. I'm not sure if Jean-Francois is staying for dinner but Renee said she was making dinner tonight. I don't even know if he's staying the night, he didn't bring a bag so I'm assuming he's not. He was more talkative to me today though. He asked me 4 questions.....you go Jean-Francois!
So I heard that we got a bunch of snow at home and I guess there was an earthquake this morning?? I'm missing all the good stuff. Oh, and, the U of I men's basketball team beat No. 11 Wisconsin last night....OH YESS!!!! I-L-L-I-N-I!!!
A bientot
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Avatar for Best Picture?
Sunday night I ended up only watching the 1st quater of the Super Bowl. It finally started around 12:30am here and I was already tired to begin with. When it started the announcers were speaking in English and I got really excited. But, then these two French men came on and they started talking over the normal commentary which was really annoying because it made it even harder to listen to the French guys because I could here parts of what the other announcers were saying in English. I think they finally figured out how to stop the other announcers voices so it just ended up being the French guys. The way that they called the game was really weird. They seriously went through all the rules of football. For example, they explained downs and what the colored lines meant on the screen for the line of scrimage and the 1st down line. I was really annoyed...but I guess most people in France don't watch American football so they really wouldn't understand the rules. They used a lot of the words that we use in English like down (for first down, except it was premier down and not first down) and touchdown, and all the positions. There was one that was different though, instead of flag it was drapeau, which is flag in French. I wasn't very impressed with the Saints, who I wanted to win, in the first quarter so once it ended I went to bed. I also didn't get to see any of the commercials because when it was a commercial break at home, the camera would just stay on the field and the French announcers kept talking about stupid stuff. It was nice to finally watch football again, not gonna lie.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. Katie texted me and asked what I was doing today and the only thing I had planned on doing was going to FNAC to buy the two cds that I have been searching for. We decided to meet after I went to the store at this one metro stop on the 1. I went to FNAC, after getting lost in Les Halles, which I always do for some reason, and found the B.B. Brunes cd. It was 17.99 euro, which I thought was a little expensive but I haven't bought a cd in a long time so maybe that's just the normal price. I looked for the Christophe Mae cd and ended up finding it but it wasn't his new one with the song I like so I didn't get it. When I was on the metro going to meet Katie, I was sitting down and this really big guy (I mean like REALLY BIG) got on and decided to sit down next to me. It's probably because my hair was looking really good. Anyways, so I scooted over as much as I could but this guy was so big I was literally smooshed in my seat. I was like plastered to the wall. I was really glad that my stop was the next one.
Katie and I went to Musee de l'Orangerie which is most known for housing some of Monet's water-lily or Nympheas paintings (they are called both). We got in for free of course! I get really excited when I get in for free for some reason...my little piece of paper that says I'm an art student has saved me so much money, no lie. The bottom floor is where the majority of the paintings are. There are many impressionist paintings here from Cezanne, Matisse, Monet, and Renoir. There are also a lot of Picasso paintings as well as a bunch of other painters I have never heard of. The paintings were really cool, however, many of them weren't there because they are on loan to other museums across the world. They had pictures of the paintings hanging on the walls instead which was really lame. There was an exhibit there about the child models that the painters used. The exhibit was filled with old people. Seriously, there were so many old people there. I think they were all trying to recapture their youth by looking at all these paintings of little kids. We went upstairs which is where the Monet paintings are. The way that they are displayed is amazing. The walls were painted in colors that complimented the paintings perfectly and I guess there is some fancy state of the art lighting system that doesn't harm the paintings. They are layed flat on concaved walls so they surround you. It's really hard to explain and of course I don't have a picture...I wasn't sure if you could take any. I'll have to go back and take one because it was just amazing.
We left the museum and headed to the movie theatre because we had nothing else to do. We went to the monoprix first to grab something to eat because we were hungry and to obvs get some candy because there was no way we were going to pay for the over priced candy at the theatre. The theatre that we went to (MK2 Bibliotheque) is pretty cheap. I believe it's 5.90 euro every day except Saturday, or something like that. We ended up seeing Avatar in 3D. I really didn't want to see it but Katie really did and I have to admit I was a little curious as to why everyone saw this movie and wanted to know what all the hype was about. The 3D glasses were like real glasses, not like the card board ones you usually get and then toss when you're done. These were extreme glasses or something. The movie was cool, not gonna lie. Visually, it was amazing but the story line was kinda dumb and it's been done a million times before. Plus, blue giant people are weird. I really don't understand why it was nominated for Best Picture. I mean it's the highest grossing movie of all time but does that mean it should be nominated for Best Picture? I don't know...we'll have to see if it wins or not, but that's not until March. Sidenote, the guy who played Jake Sully was really hot; as a human, not an Avatar.
Today I really didn't do anything. Renee texted me this morning and told me she wouldn't be here this afternoon or tonight because she's going out. I went to the store to pick up some food for tonight and the rest of the week in case she won't be here. I've been listening to my B.B. Brunes cd and it's pretty sweet. I love it. I haven't figured out what they are saying on most of the songs, but the lyrics were included so I need to check them out. Oh, I've been watching a lot of Dexter lately and I just figured out (well saw) who the Ice Truck Killer is!!!! gasp! Also, I think there's something wrong with my left shift button...it doesn't work all the time.
A bientot
Yesterday was a lot of fun. Katie texted me and asked what I was doing today and the only thing I had planned on doing was going to FNAC to buy the two cds that I have been searching for. We decided to meet after I went to the store at this one metro stop on the 1. I went to FNAC, after getting lost in Les Halles, which I always do for some reason, and found the B.B. Brunes cd. It was 17.99 euro, which I thought was a little expensive but I haven't bought a cd in a long time so maybe that's just the normal price. I looked for the Christophe Mae cd and ended up finding it but it wasn't his new one with the song I like so I didn't get it. When I was on the metro going to meet Katie, I was sitting down and this really big guy (I mean like REALLY BIG) got on and decided to sit down next to me. It's probably because my hair was looking really good. Anyways, so I scooted over as much as I could but this guy was so big I was literally smooshed in my seat. I was like plastered to the wall. I was really glad that my stop was the next one.
Katie and I went to Musee de l'Orangerie which is most known for housing some of Monet's water-lily or Nympheas paintings (they are called both). We got in for free of course! I get really excited when I get in for free for some reason...my little piece of paper that says I'm an art student has saved me so much money, no lie. The bottom floor is where the majority of the paintings are. There are many impressionist paintings here from Cezanne, Matisse, Monet, and Renoir. There are also a lot of Picasso paintings as well as a bunch of other painters I have never heard of. The paintings were really cool, however, many of them weren't there because they are on loan to other museums across the world. They had pictures of the paintings hanging on the walls instead which was really lame. There was an exhibit there about the child models that the painters used. The exhibit was filled with old people. Seriously, there were so many old people there. I think they were all trying to recapture their youth by looking at all these paintings of little kids. We went upstairs which is where the Monet paintings are. The way that they are displayed is amazing. The walls were painted in colors that complimented the paintings perfectly and I guess there is some fancy state of the art lighting system that doesn't harm the paintings. They are layed flat on concaved walls so they surround you. It's really hard to explain and of course I don't have a picture...I wasn't sure if you could take any. I'll have to go back and take one because it was just amazing.
We left the museum and headed to the movie theatre because we had nothing else to do. We went to the monoprix first to grab something to eat because we were hungry and to obvs get some candy because there was no way we were going to pay for the over priced candy at the theatre. The theatre that we went to (MK2 Bibliotheque) is pretty cheap. I believe it's 5.90 euro every day except Saturday, or something like that. We ended up seeing Avatar in 3D. I really didn't want to see it but Katie really did and I have to admit I was a little curious as to why everyone saw this movie and wanted to know what all the hype was about. The 3D glasses were like real glasses, not like the card board ones you usually get and then toss when you're done. These were extreme glasses or something. The movie was cool, not gonna lie. Visually, it was amazing but the story line was kinda dumb and it's been done a million times before. Plus, blue giant people are weird. I really don't understand why it was nominated for Best Picture. I mean it's the highest grossing movie of all time but does that mean it should be nominated for Best Picture? I don't know...we'll have to see if it wins or not, but that's not until March. Sidenote, the guy who played Jake Sully was really hot; as a human, not an Avatar.
Today I really didn't do anything. Renee texted me this morning and told me she wouldn't be here this afternoon or tonight because she's going out. I went to the store to pick up some food for tonight and the rest of the week in case she won't be here. I've been listening to my B.B. Brunes cd and it's pretty sweet. I love it. I haven't figured out what they are saying on most of the songs, but the lyrics were included so I need to check them out. Oh, I've been watching a lot of Dexter lately and I just figured out (well saw) who the Ice Truck Killer is!!!! gasp! Also, I think there's something wrong with my left shift button...it doesn't work all the time.
A bientot
Sunday, February 7, 2010
You'd think after 5 months here I'd know how to ride the RER...
Rugby is on right now. It's got to be the dumbest sport ever. Seriously. They just push each other around and really never get anywhere. Team France is playing Team Scotland at least that's what I think Ecosse is in French. I'm pretty sure. Team France is winning 5-3. The men on team France are really fugs. No lie. Team Scotland is really good looking. It must be cold out because I can see their breath. They wear this really tiny shorts...it's pretty funny looking. Anyways, enough about rugby.
Yesterday I went to this bookstore to look for the books that I need to buy for second semester. I think I need to buy 6 or 7. They are all French literature books by Balzac and Hugo, to name a few. The books really weren't that expensive. I think the most expensive one was 6 Euro, around there. I didn't buy any though because I wasn't sure what editions were needed for certain books. I'm just glad it won't be too expensive. When I was walking to the bookstore I saw an accident. It was your classic scooter vs car...which happens a lot here. The car was backing out of this spot where he wasn't supposed to be and he didn't see the scooter and hit him. The guy on the scooter fell off. It was kinda scary but I think the scooter guy was fine because neither he nor the guy in the car were going very fast.
After the book store I went to this music store to look for the cds that I talked about in my last post. I walked around there for ever and couldn't find anything. I was getting really frustrated. Nothing was really organized well which was annoying. All the French music was in one spot and it was mixed with really old stuff so it was hard to find anything new. I left and got on the RER B. I got on at a stop that I don't normally go to and it just threw me off completely. I thought I was going the wrong direction so I got off at the next stop but when I looked at the screen that says where the next train is going I realized that I was on the right train and was going the right direction, I'm just an idiot. So I had to wait for the next train and I wasn't very happy. When I finally got back on the train I decided to go to the mall at Montparnasse because I thought there was a FNAC there which is like Best Buy. However, when I finally got to the mall, I looked at the directory and there wasn't a FNAC. Could I have been any more wrong yesterday? I came back to the apartment and started to watch Beauty and the Beast because I liked to watch it when I'm annoyed or stressed...for some reason I don't know why. I got to the part where Lumiere starts to sing Be Our Guest and it froze and wouldn't work. I wasn't very happy.
Last night I watched The Blind Side and Brothers both or which were amazing. I really enjoyed them. Tonight, as you know, is the Super Bowl. I'm going to try to stay up to watch some of it but it doesn't start until after midnight here, so we'll see how long I last. Tomorrow I want to go to FNAC to find those cds. I also want to buy my tickets to Greece for spring break. Hopefully I'll get all of that done.
A bientot
Yesterday I went to this bookstore to look for the books that I need to buy for second semester. I think I need to buy 6 or 7. They are all French literature books by Balzac and Hugo, to name a few. The books really weren't that expensive. I think the most expensive one was 6 Euro, around there. I didn't buy any though because I wasn't sure what editions were needed for certain books. I'm just glad it won't be too expensive. When I was walking to the bookstore I saw an accident. It was your classic scooter vs car...which happens a lot here. The car was backing out of this spot where he wasn't supposed to be and he didn't see the scooter and hit him. The guy on the scooter fell off. It was kinda scary but I think the scooter guy was fine because neither he nor the guy in the car were going very fast.
After the book store I went to this music store to look for the cds that I talked about in my last post. I walked around there for ever and couldn't find anything. I was getting really frustrated. Nothing was really organized well which was annoying. All the French music was in one spot and it was mixed with really old stuff so it was hard to find anything new. I left and got on the RER B. I got on at a stop that I don't normally go to and it just threw me off completely. I thought I was going the wrong direction so I got off at the next stop but when I looked at the screen that says where the next train is going I realized that I was on the right train and was going the right direction, I'm just an idiot. So I had to wait for the next train and I wasn't very happy. When I finally got back on the train I decided to go to the mall at Montparnasse because I thought there was a FNAC there which is like Best Buy. However, when I finally got to the mall, I looked at the directory and there wasn't a FNAC. Could I have been any more wrong yesterday? I came back to the apartment and started to watch Beauty and the Beast because I liked to watch it when I'm annoyed or stressed...for some reason I don't know why. I got to the part where Lumiere starts to sing Be Our Guest and it froze and wouldn't work. I wasn't very happy.
Last night I watched The Blind Side and Brothers both or which were amazing. I really enjoyed them. Tonight, as you know, is the Super Bowl. I'm going to try to stay up to watch some of it but it doesn't start until after midnight here, so we'll see how long I last. Tomorrow I want to go to FNAC to find those cds. I also want to buy my tickets to Greece for spring break. Hopefully I'll get all of that done.
A bientot
Friday, February 5, 2010
I Heart Museums
This has been the week of museums. It might be kind of dorky, but I really like museums. Yesterday I met Katie at le Petit Palais. Of course, being me, I was late. It actually wasn't my fault. Usually on Thursdays Renee doesn't come back for lunch until later but yesterday she was here really early and started making lunch for the two of us. She made mashed potatoes so it was all good. They could have used more butter though, but I didn't want to seem like a fatty putting more butter in my potatoes. Anyways, so I was a half hour late meeting Katie, but she didn't care.
Le Petit Palais is a musee de beaux arts...which means that there's a lot of everything there. That's what I got from it. It was a very pretty building with gold doors and giant statues outside of the building. It was free to get in the museum but you still had to show them a ticket for some reason. It's just a waste of pa
per if you ask me. So we walked around and saw a lot of cool vases and then we walked into this room and there were a bunch of Courbet paintings there. He was an impressionist painter. He was pretty much a bad ass. The majority of his paintings are HUGE and awesome. I really like his paintings. He's a cool guy. There were also some impressionist artists that I had never heard of. There is usually a Monet painting there called Soleil couchant sur la Seine a lavacourt, effet d'hive http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/4127899406_36b14bdc60.jpg . Here's a picture of it if you've never seen it. It's really pretty. However, the painting wasn't at the museum, it was on loan to another museum until the end of the month. We walked around the small garden in the palais and it was really cool. There were these little ponds, but they didn't have any water in them. The picture above is of the entrance to le Petit Palais. You can see the top of the gold doors too.
per if you ask me. So we walked around and saw a lot of cool vases and then we walked into this room and there were a bunch of Courbet paintings there. He was an impressionist painter. He was pretty much a bad ass. The majority of his paintings are HUGE and awesome. I really like his paintings. He's a cool guy. There were also some impressionist artists that I had never heard of. There is usually a Monet painting there called Soleil couchant sur la Seine a lavacourt, effet d'hive http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/4127899406_36b14bdc60.jpg . Here's a picture of it if you've never seen it. It's really pretty. However, the painting wasn't at the museum, it was on loan to another museum until the end of the month. We walked around the small garden in the palais and it was really cool. There were these little ponds, but they didn't have any water in them. The picture above is of the entrance to le Petit Palais. You can see the top of the gold doors too.We left le Petit Palais and decided to check out le Grand Palais which is right across the street from le Petit Palais...how
convenient! I wasn't sure what was going to be in there but I thought why not, it'll be free. It wasn't free. I really don't know why. Granted, we only paid 2 euro so I guess it wasn't that bad. When we walked in I was really shocked. There was this giant pile of clothes in the center of the room with sections of squares on the floor throughout the room. It was really cool looking. There was this giant crane at the back of the room behind the pi
le of clothes that had a giant, red claw attached to it. The claw grabbed clothes from the top of the pile, rose in the air, and then dropped them. That was the entire exhibit. It was a modern art exhibition called Personnes. It was really cool. We seriously stood there forever looking at this claw picking up and dropping clothes. After walking around for a little while longer I left and Katie stayed to write in her notebook or something. I walked down Pont Alexandre (a huge bridge) which crosses the Seine. Les Invalides is the other end and you get nice view of the Eiffel Tower by looking right. I walked around there for a little while and then headed for the RER to come back to the apartment. The first picture is of the pile of clothes and the giant red claw. The second is from Pont Alexandre.
convenient! I wasn't sure what was going to be in there but I thought why not, it'll be free. It wasn't free. I really don't know why. Granted, we only paid 2 euro so I guess it wasn't that bad. When we walked in I was really shocked. There was this giant pile of clothes in the center of the room with sections of squares on the floor throughout the room. It was really cool looking. There was this giant crane at the back of the room behind the pi
le of clothes that had a giant, red claw attached to it. The claw grabbed clothes from the top of the pile, rose in the air, and then dropped them. That was the entire exhibit. It was a modern art exhibition called Personnes. It was really cool. We seriously stood there forever looking at this claw picking up and dropping clothes. After walking around for a little while longer I left and Katie stayed to write in her notebook or something. I walked down Pont Alexandre (a huge bridge) which crosses the Seine. Les Invalides is the other end and you get nice view of the Eiffel Tower by looking right. I walked around there for a little while and then headed for the RER to come back to the apartment. The first picture is of the pile of clothes and the giant red claw. The second is from Pont Alexandre.This morning I woke up with a really bad headache. I think it's because one of my wisdome teeth is coming it. It really hurts to bite down because my top tooth hits the gum of my bottom jaw where the tooth is coming in and it's really painful. I'm hoping it goes away. Today I planned on going to Le Musee d'Art Moderne (the modern art museum) at the Tokyo Palace. I got there and when I went in everything was under construction. The only thing that was open was this cafe and I really didn't feel like going in there and eating their over priced food. I think it will be open in two weeks, so I'll have to go back. There was another museum across the street that was a fashion museum. I thought that might be cool to check out so I walked around the entire building and couldn't find the entrance. After I walked around the block a few times, I finally found it and it was closed too!!!!! GRRRR....just my luck. It didn't say when it was going to be open again either. I walked up the road and saw this other museum called Musee Guimet. I wasn't sure what it was but I walked in anyways. Turns out it is a museum for Asian Art. Asian art really isn't my favorite thing in the world but I decided to look around for a little bit.
My tooth was starting to hurt so I left. I really don't have any plans for tonight except to watch Greys and Project runway. I'm really hoping that my tooth stops hurting. Tomorrow I want to go see Sherlock Holmes (yes, it just came out here on Wednesday) but the movies are pretty expensive on Saturdays, so we'll see. Renee won't be here for the majority of the day because she's helping a friend move or something.
I've really been getting into French music lately. However, whenever I watch the music video there are always American artists on them, which is really funny. Ke$ha has the #1 video here. It used to be Lady Gaga a few weeks ago. Here's two of my favorite French groups/singers: B.B. Brunes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV9yWozGfKQ and Christophe Mae http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi-RwpnFLXI Check them out.
A bientot!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Semester Break....oh boy!
I suck at updating...sorry. I really haven't been doing anything that exciting so I figured you really didn't want to hear about it. Monday was the first day of break. I've been really looking forward to break because I'm just sick of school. But as it turns out, break isn't that fun when no one you hang out with is in Paris, you have no money to go anywhere, and it's raining. Seriously, the highlight of my Monday was going grocery shopping. Fun times. I went to the Simply, which is one of the bigger stores around where I live. I guess it really isn't that big, they just have a better selection of things. So I bought some food for the week and hopefully I can stretch it a little further than that. Renee made galettes (savory crepes) for dinner that night. They were pretty good.
On Tuesday I figured I'd better get out of the apartment or else I was going to go crazy. Renee came back for lunch and we ate together. After I was done I went to the Musee Rodin. Auguste Rodin was a French sculptor and he was kinda crazy, no lie. You may not recognize his name but I'm sure y
ou've seen or heard of "The Thinker" you know, the g
uy with his arm on his knee and his hand on his chin? Yeah, that's Rodin. The Rodin museum was really easy to find. It's in the 7th, close to Les Invalides. I was really excited to go, plus it's free for me to get in so double awesome. However, when I got there there were like a MILLION kids there waiting to get tickets. I was like great, I had to pick a day where there's a giant school group here. Oh plus, the majority of the statues are in the gardens....it was pouring when I got there. I still wanted to see the statues, because that's what I went there to see so I walked around in the rain for like an hour. After I was nice and wet I went into the museum itself. It's a really old home I think. It was very pretty. I liked the inside of the museum but after a while I just got tired of looking at sculptures. There were a few VanGogh paintings there so that was cool. I left the museum and headed back home. The two pictures here are from the museum. The first one is obviously The Thinker. It was a lot bigger than I expected it to be (that's what she said). It was on this really high block made of marble, I'm assuming. The next one is of this guy who is walking. I liked his face.
ou've seen or heard of "The Thinker" you know, the g
uy with his arm on his knee and his hand on his chin? Yeah, that's Rodin. The Rodin museum was really easy to find. It's in the 7th, close to Les Invalides. I was really excited to go, plus it's free for me to get in so double awesome. However, when I got there there were like a MILLION kids there waiting to get tickets. I was like great, I had to pick a day where there's a giant school group here. Oh plus, the majority of the statues are in the gardens....it was pouring when I got there. I still wanted to see the statues, because that's what I went there to see so I walked around in the rain for like an hour. After I was nice and wet I went into the museum itself. It's a really old home I think. It was very pretty. I liked the inside of the museum but after a while I just got tired of looking at sculptures. There were a few VanGogh paintings there so that was cool. I left the museum and headed back home. The two pictures here are from the museum. The first one is obviously The Thinker. It was a lot bigger than I expected it to be (that's what she said). It was on this really high block made of marble, I'm assuming. The next one is of this guy who is walking. I liked his face.Last night I was up so late because I needed to finish watching the last episode of season 5 of LOST because the season premiere was that night in the US...I didn't get to watch it until today. It was amazing of course, and really confusing but I don't expect anything less from LOST. I also finished watching season 4 of HIMYM...YAY BARNEY AND ROBIN!!!!!!!!! :)
Today I met Katie at this student cafeteria called Crous. They have big meals for really cheap. In Katie's program they gave her a bunch of Crous cards so she paid for my lunch with her cards. She has to use up all the points before they expire. We had pizza and it was really good. I was surprised. I mean it wasn't like Olando's pizza but it was still pretty good. After lunch we went back to the apartment so we could look at more Greece stuff and try to finalize some plans. I texted Renee to let her know that we were going back to the apartment and I asked if it was okay. She answered back, yes, but only today. I really don't know what that meant. Maybe I used the wrong verb tense and she thought I was asking if I could have a friend stay or something...I don't get why it would be a big deal if I had a friend come over for a few hours to look at some stuff. It's not like I was throwing a rager, we looked at hostels, flights, and watched tv...big deal. Whatevs...we had galettes for dinner again tonight, not that I'm complaining because they are really good. I don't think Renee will be here tomorrow night so I'll be making dinner again.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow....maybe I'll check out le petit palais or something (that's a museum) I don't know, I'll figure it out.
a bientot
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